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Civic Education Activity
Gracie Frame
School of Education, Liberty University
EDUC 322: Teaching Elementary and Middle School Social Studies
Professor Triggs
October 2, 2023
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Civic Education Activity
Topic: [Voting]
Standard of Learning, Student Learning Goals, and Objective
Standard of Learning: [ Virginia SOL 3.1: The student will demonstrate skills for historical
thinking, geographical analysis, economic decision making, and responsible citizenship
by
i) practicing good citizenship skills and respect for rules and laws while collaborating,
compromising, and participating in classroom activities
Student Learning Goals: [Explain your student learning goals for this activity and provide an
overall description of what you want your students to gain from this activity. This response
should be at least one solid paragraph of five sentences.]
One of the most important ways that children can participate in their government is to
exercise their American rights and vote (Maxim, 2018). Throughout the assignment, I want
students to remember that this is one of the many freedoms that brave men and women have
fought for over decades. The goal is for students to learn the importance of voting and allow
them to have the opportunity to hold their own election. Students will practice respect for the
law, responsibility, and patriotism. By demonstrating an activity such as voting in the classroom,
children can experience how democracy works (Maxim, 2018).
Objective: Given instruction on the importance of voting, students will participate in a classroom
election voting on a change within their school, while showing leadership, responsibility and
communication skills.
Federalism, Virginia State Government, Local Government
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Federalism: [Review the content information from the Virginia State and Local Civic Education
Module: http://www.civiceducationva.org/. Specify at least two terms that you can integrate and
provide information on the federalism content that you will integrate into the activity. This
response should be at least one solid paragraph of five sentences.]
The voting activity is an example of how federalism plays a role in the society. The terms
that can be expressed to the students are power and government. Students will understand that
there is a hierarchy that determines how things go in places like the school system, state, and
nation. In federalism, authority is divided between the head and the political units that are
governed by it (Marsh, 2012). For our classroom, we will use the Principle and the
Superintendent of the school. Because federalism is a group of people gathered by a governing
head, students will understand that their governing head, the Principle and Superintendent, are
the ones who hold the most power in the school and therefore students have to go to them first.
Students will learn that the roles of a hierarchy are vital to the impact that they have on a
situation.
Virginia State Government: [Review the content information from the Virginia State and Local
Civic Education Module: http://www.civiceducationva.org/. Specify at least two terms that you
can integrate and provide information on the Virginia state government content that you will
integrate into the activity. This response should be at least one solid paragraph of five sentences.]
For students to understand the importance of the Virginia State government, I want to
focus on the terms branches and Commonwealth. The branches are made up of the legislative
branch which makes up laws, the executive branch which enforces the laws, and the judicial
branch which interprets the laws (Morgan, 2012 ). Once students understand the roles of the
different branches of government, they can make their decisions easier. If students know the
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responsibilities of the three branches, they can use that knowledge to make informed decisions as
they began to vote for changes or candidates. As students learn about the commonwealth of the
people, they will begin to see how a group of people going to the leader, or in this case the
superintendent, is necessary to make decisions that affect the entire school district.
Local Government: [Review the content information from the Virginia State and Local Civic
Education Module: http://www.civiceducationva.org/. Specify at least two terms that you can
integrate and provide information on the local government content that you will integrate into the
activity. This response should be at least one solid paragraph of five sentences.]
To incorporate local government into the voting activity, I will explain the terms and
roles of local officials such as city council members and clerk of the circuit court. By
incorporating these terms in the classroom, the students will learn about the impact these roles
have on the local government (Morgan, 2012). Students will use their knowledge of these
groups to participate in the voting process and voice their opinions. Since we are setting up a
classroom election, there will be spots to fill for students to represent these groups. Once
students have a greater understanding of these groups, they will be able to make more informed
voting decisions.
Civic Participation and Engagement Practices with Four Pedagogical Techniques
Literature Integration: Explain your plan for supporting this pedagogical technique: Read and
discuss a book that exemplifies civic character. Explain your viewpoint on this with at least one
solid paragraph of five sentences.
Children can use literature to connect material on a personal level (Maxim, 2018). To
enhance the learning and importance of voting in the classroom we will read A Vote is a
Powerful Thing by Catherine Stier. This piece of literature not only talks about the importance of
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voting, but it teaches children about the fight men and women endured so students could have
the right to vote. There is an excellent demonstration of what civic character looks like in the
classroom. The story will help the students lead into the voting activity with a better
understanding of voting. The book demonstrates a classroom election and important terminology
that goes along with it.
Decision-Making: Explain the plan for supporting this pedagogical technique: Allow students to
engage in decision-making, so that they can practice citizenship, rules/laws, and participation in
classroom activities. Explain your viewpoint on this with at least one solid paragraph of five
sentences.
Children should be encouraged to carefully seek out all information before they cast their
vote and decide (Maxim, 2018). The point of this activity is to teach students the importance and
steps of voting. At this age students do not have the same understanding on voting that adult to.
To practice this decision making, it is important that I start off with topics that students are
familiar with. For example, I couple take a poll on students and their favorite ice cream flavors.
Each student will receive a piece of paper with four ice cream flavors, and this will serve as their
ballot. They will be required to circle their favorite option and turn it in. This is good practice to
prepare the students for the classroom election.
Values, Symbols, and Holidays: Explain the plan for supporting these pedagogical techniques:
Promote values/principles and recognize symbols and/or holidays. Explain your viewpoint on
this with at least one solid paragraph of five sentences.
The United States celebrates fundamental holidays and symbols that represent the pride
of the American citizen (Maxim, 2018). It is important that students understand the U.S. holidays
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and not just view them as days off from school or songs such as The Star-Spangled Banner are
played at ball games for fun. Helping students utilize a sense of pride for the school and country
is a valuable thing. Helping students understand important holidays such as Veterans Day,
encourages them to have respect for veterans and pride for the country they helped make free.
Other symbols such as a school moto, mascot, or school colors can aid in students gaining pride
for the school.
Activity Methods, with Technology and Differentiation
Technology: Describe how students will use technology in this civic activity. For example,
explain how the students will use technology in a meaningful way that helps them to meet the
lesson objective. Explain your viewpoint on this with at least one solid paragraph of five
sentences.
A growing social studies teacher learns to incorporate technology into the classroom for
differentiated instruction (Maxim, 2018). To incorporate technology into the activity, I will use
the student’s school iPad to participate in research and voting activity. For the students to make
well informed decisions, they must have a good understanding of what they are voting on.
Students will use their iPad and use an approved website to research different topics that could
be changed within the school. Students will come together to conclude their topics down to three
choices.
Activity Procedures: Describe the student activity procedures, with a beginning, middle, and end.
Explain your viewpoint on this with at least one solid paragraph of five sentences.
The first thing students will do is participate in a group activity brainstorming different
ideas that they could change or improve in the school. Once they have come up with their ideas,
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they will need to come together to decide the pros and cons of each topic and use that
information to narrow their options down to three topics. Next, the students will participate in
creating a classroom election where they will vote on their three ideas. We will set up at a station
that looks like a real voting experience. Students will create a classroom I.D. that they will be
required to bring up with them as they vote. They will line up in a straight line and fill out their
ballot with the topic they want to vote on. Once all of the votes have been casted, I will announce
the winner. Then the students will break into groups where they will create a posterboard and a
paper where they will submit their idea of change in the school. Students will present their idea
to the principle and superintendent. If the student’s proposal is declined, we will discuss ways we
can improve our information and have a classroom discussion of why it did not work and what
we will do next.
Differentiation: Discuss the plan for student differentiation practices. How will you support
students with learning at their ability levels? How will you plan for students who are English
Language Learners, students who are classified as gifted, and students with varying learning
styles? Use your knowledge and the information from the readings to support your answers.
Explain your viewpoint on this with at least one solid paragraph of five sentences.
For students who are ELL I will provide a Google Translator and plenty of visuals since
this may be a harder topic for them to understand. These students will be allowed to draw
pictures that explain their understanding of the activity and lesson. To add advancement in the
activity for the gifted students, I will challenge them to dig deeper into the research and find
solutions for voting related issues. This will challenge them in their critical thinking skills and
keep them from getting bored. For the other students, there will be plenty of visual and auditory
resources for the students to use. Students will be actively engaged in the assignment, and I will
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be able to help them along the way. There is no “how to” recipe for differentiation because the
individuality of the students required different instruction techniques for each of them (Maxim,
2018).
Assessment
Assessing Student Learning: Describe the plan for assessing student learning of the activity. For
example, what method will you use to assess student learning of the novel information? For
example, will you use tests or essays? Explain your viewpoint on this with at least one solid
paragraph of five sentences.
Because I am working with a third-grade class, I will not be administering any
assessment tests or essays about voting because they are just beginning to learn about this. For
the activity, I will assess students by monitoring their progress throughout the activity. I will be
monitoring and watching for things such as classroom participation in researching the topics,
their character during the voting process, the participation in the creation of the posterboards and
paper to give to the principle and superintendent, and how they help present their idea. I will
watch the students as they demonstrate respect to their peers and how they interpret their
knowledge on the importance of voting. The rubric should align with the rules and lessons the
students follow along with in a democratic classroom.
Example of Assessment: Provide an example of the assessment. For example, show an essay
rubric. For example, post a picture or a drawing.
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Plan for Feedback: Describe the plan to provide feedback for the student assessment. For
example, will you provide feedback on essays? Will you use Nearpod for assessment feedback?
Explain your viewpoint on this with at least one solid paragraph of five sentences.
To provide feedback from the assessment, I will individually go through each rubric with
the student and we will discuss their performance. As we do this, I will make notes on each
rubric of what the student showed mastery in and what the student should work on. We will
discuss ways to improve our skills. Each student will be given the opportunity to ask questions
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on information that they do not understand. This data can be used to provide guidance for further
improvement in the future.
